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Sunday July 19, 2009

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ubiquitous [yoo-BIK-wih-tuhs]

adjective

1. Existing or being everywhere, or in all places, at once; omnipresent.

• You will never end the threat of mold growth. Mold spores are ubiquitous, found thousands of miles in the sky and even frozen in Arctic ice. Indeed, they're floating invisibly in the air in your home right now.
  Karen Youso , "Combating the fungus among us", Chicago Tribune, May 15, 2009
• The outage, which lasted nearly two hours, prompted a wave of distress and frustration among users, highlighting just how dependent they are on the Internet giant's ubiquitous services.
  Verne Kopytoff, "Frustration, distress over Google outage", San Francisco Chronicle, May 15, 2009
• All New York passes along Fifth Avenue at some time or another. All of one's friends are always passing long that way when one does not particularly wish to be seen by them. If one is walking, the friends are invariably driving; if one is driving, of course the ubiquitous acquaintances are out for a stroll.
  Isaac N. Stevens, An American author. An American Suffragette (1911)

Origin of the Word

Ubiquitous, approximately 1837, derives from Latin French "ubique", "everywhere," from ubi, "where" : ubiquity English from 'ubiquity' + '-ous'.